Subcombat units which may be used with the present invention may be of a plurality of different types. For example, they may be of the type which is described in Swedish printed application No. 464834 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,419. Such combat units include both a hollow charge effect unit, a target detector, and special flip-out carrier surfaces which, after ejection from the carrier vehicle or shell, impart to the subcombat unit a helical trajectory towards ground level. In such subcombat units, it is, thus, vital that the subcombat units transported in one and the same shell are separated and spread in accordance with a predetermined pattern so that their different helical trajectories entail that together they will cover the largest possible target area without unnecessary overlap or interjacent areas which are not covered. In addition, the subcombat units must not impede one another.
In many cases, it is also desirable that the subcombat units can be separated in such a manner that they retain their rotation, and that the rotation vector deviates minimally from the center line. The reason for this may be an intention that the subcombat units are substantially to rotate about the center line throughout the entire period up to the moment when they are to give effect.
The subcombat unit which is described in the above-mentioned printed application is, as already mentioned, of the hollow charge effect type, but this particular factor is of no consequence in this context. Quite the contrary, the present invention relates to all subcombat units, including mines which are transported to the target area in a rotation-stabilized carrier body or vehicle and which are ejected therefrom either as a unit and which must thereafter be separated from one another in accordance with a predetermined pattern, or alternatively which must thereafter be separated from other parts by degrees as they depart from the carrier vehicle or body.
It has previously been proposed in the art to separate subcombat units of the type contemplated here by means of small pyrotechnical changes. However, such a method requires time-control ignites in order to give the desired separation pattern, and time-control igniters do not always give the desired result.